Ted Cruz is ‘hot’ among conservatives as national speculation on a presidential bid swells

The Cruz craze may be sweeping the nation, at least among Republican conservative networks.

Though Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and his staff remain mum on any interest in a 2016 president bid, support continues to swell for the freshman Republican to at least explore the notion.

The latest event stirring speculation: a loudly applauded keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend, not to mention an anything-but-timid start to his Senate career.

Bill Miller, a lobbyist and Texas political consultant, said Cruz has excited a lot of conservatives in Texas after winning against a formidable Republican opponent and carried his fiery crusade into the Senate.

“In the most simple and most direct terms: He’s hot,” Miller said.

Jeff Judson, a Cruz supporter and a Texas tea party figure, recently told the Washington Post that support for a possible Cruz candidacy is already pretty strong, though the effort has not been coaxed by Cruz of his staff.

“Yes, there is a buzz about Cruz running for president, but a different kind of buzz than with other prior candidates,” Judson told the Post. “He has serious gravitas – more than all the 2012 Republican presidential candidates combined.”

Miller said many conservatives in the Lone Star State are talking about a possible President Cruz, and that talk is likely to spread.

Texas has a rich history of putting forth a number of presidential hopefuls. Most recently, Gov. Rick Perry and then-Rep. Ron Paul were among the list of presidential contenders in 2012. They fell short, but former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush each won the presidency.

Cruz would have a long way to go to become a top-tier presidential contender. The Texas senator finished tied for seventh at 4 percent support in a presidential straw poll conducted during the CPAC gathering. Perry, who says he is mulling a 2016 run, failed to make the top ten favorites of the conservative activists. Leading the poll were Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Fox News host Sean Hannity recently confronted Cruz about the talk of a presidential bid, asking the Texan about the questioning of his citizenship. Cruz addressed the “birther” issue, confirming he was born in Canada to a mother who was a United States citizen, making him a citizen by birth.

He didn’t mention his own thoughts on a presidential bid.

Miller said it’s in Cruz’s best interest to keep people guessing, with the next presidential election three years away.

“I bet speculation is in his best interest (right now), to keep people wondering what he’ll do next,” he said.